September 15th marks the 50th anniversary of the bombing of Birmingham, Alabama's 16th St. Baptist Church by members of the Ku Klux Klan. Four girls were killed and 22 others injured in this racially-motivated terrorist attack. Four months before the 1963 attack the municipal government had passed legislation to begin the desegregation of public spaces and facilities, a move that further aggravated the KKK.

This church was chosen as a target since it had served as a rallying point earlier in the year, hosting civil right leaders including Martin Luther King, Jr., Fred Shuttlesworth and Ralph Abernathy.

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